Texas Rangers Blog

Darvish is ambidextrous

When Texas Rangers righthander Yu Darvish took the mound at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington for a photo session on Friday night, he showed his ambidextrous side.

Darvish tossed from the mound from the right and left sides. Darvish throws from the left side during workouts as a way to keep his delivery in balance. While with Hokkaido Nippon Ham of the Pacific League, Darvish would throw from the left side on the first day after a start.

Former Rangers right-handed reliever Greg Harris regularly threw from the left side while with the club in 1985-87 and flirted with the idea of doing it in the game. He did it once in the majors, on Sept. 28, 1995, while with Montreal. It was the next-to-last appearance of his career.

New York Yankees minor-leaguer Pat Venditte is the only current ambidextrous pitcher in a major-league organization. He pitched in the Double-A Eastern League last season.